Insomnia
by Qwisse
Summary: Professor Gerald's last experiment. Shadow has no memory of it, but Rouge and Eggman seem to have a clue. If only they could tell him about it without pulling him into some shadowy schemes...
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note:**

Several things before you start reading the story.

First, if you thought the story is about some lost brother or sister or whatnot of Shadow, then no, there won't be any of those.

Second, the story is based on both Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes. Of course you don't have to be familiar with them to read the story, but it'd really help you to understand what's going on.

Third, I'm aware of a certain game's featuring the black hedgehog existence in general, but I wasn't taking Shadow the Hedgehog into account while writing this specific story. To put it simple: no Black Doom or anything related to him. I guess that is enough to state the story isn't canon, but I wouldn't dare call it an AU either. Hm... should I call it semi-canon, then?

Fourth, I was using SA2-based version of Shadow's creation, according to which he was created during the last week before the ARK's seal. And this is an important part.

Fifth, there will be much more of Shadow in later chapters. This first one is something of an introduction; I know there isn't too much Shadow in it, but I have to keep it this way.

Sixth, sorry for the long introduction. And enjoy.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own the characters. SEGA does.

* * *

.w.

It was nighttime aboard the ARK.

Though it was nothing like nighttime on the Earth. Since the spacescape beyond the windows never changed, the only differences between day and night were smaller amount of light and lack of people in the passages. Although sometimes, during the most exciting and vital experiments, people were out of their bedrooms even at night as well. Still, they tried to keep quiet and certainly looked more embarrassed than normally.

For the two men in the laboratory night came when they had a free minute or two to sleep - which means it hardly ever came at all. Both of them looked tired to excess, and their feelings matched their look. Professor Gerald Robotnik, the older of the two, now appeared nearly twice his actual age, his face resembling a wax mask. Alles, the assistant, somehow managed to preserve more energy, but not enough to avoid deep shadows appearing under his eyes. His hair, still untouched by the grey color, stood on end from occasional tousles.

A small computer between them was buzzing quietly until it let out a small beeping sound and produced a long and thin piece of paper. Professor Gerald happened to be the first one to seize it and look over it.

"Negative."

Alles sank back into the chair he had barely risen from. "This makes three, and result's still the same. Professor, do you think it's enough already?"

"I'm absolutely sure it's not enough, and would insist on carrying out at least ten more experiments if the circumstances were different. But I believe you know what the circumstances are just as good as I do."

He approached the table which had a small interphone on it. Picked up a receiver and dialed some number.

After about half a minute he frowned. "Again…"

Another number was dialed. This time the answer came almost immediately.

"Shadow? Yes, yes, that was rather obvious. You'll explain yourself later, and now I need you in the laboratory number 118-s. It's very important- what? No, don't even think of waking her up - she hasn't got too much sleep lately and she really needs this rest. I need only you. I'll be waiting."

The man took the receiver away from his ear, but didn't put it down straight away.

"He was in Maria's room, I take it?" asked Alles, who failed to find another subject to bring up.

"Where else? Amazing how a girl has more power over him than me and all my colleagues altogether, isn't it?" Keeping on twisting a piece of white plastic in his hands in an absent-minded way, the older scientist looked back at his assistant. "I hope you understand I'm doing this not because I actually want it, but because I have to finish the research I was forced to join."

"Of course, professor," the voice of the younger male didn't falter as he feared.

"Experiments with blood samples won't allow me to obtain the remedy. In order to get it I'll have to infect Shadow himself with the virus."

Alles understood. He never blamed Gerald for the decision that had been made, and he believed no one of their colleagues would have blamed him if they had known about the experiment. But it seemed that stings of the professor's own remorse were just enough to make him suffer.

"I know, professor. You're doing it right."

Their conversation died down, making room for another waiting which felt different this time. Robotnik, who had been previously sitting motionlessly in is chair as if dozing, was now striding slowly across the room. He marched from the shelves full of various samples to the table with a messy heap of papers on it, and then back to the shelves. His assistant was looking at the computer screen absent-mindedly. Silence felt thick, as if someone had spilled a vat of cold jelly between them.

There was a small sound indicating that someone was standing in front of the lab door. Both scientists twitched involuntarily; the professor who stood closer to the door went to open it. He let in a black and red hedgehog, silent and tensed as always. Without asking a single question, Shadow followed Gerald to the shelves.

As soon as the professor and the hedgehog moved away from the door, it slid open again. Alles stood up in a swift movement and laid a hand on a shoulder of a girl who had just slipped in. The pressure of his palm wasn't too hard, but it still was there preventing the girl from following Gerald and Shadow.

"I thought Shadow said you were sleeping," he tried to make his voice sound gentle, but it came out tired. "Did you let him stay in your room again?"

"We were reading together and I didn't notice falling asleep. I woke up when grandfather called," Maria looked up and smiled in a disarming way. "I know Shadow is not allowed to walk on his own, so I followed him. May I have a look at what he and grandfather are doing?"

"You better not. They'll be done in a couple of minutes anyway, and professor will let you two go. Maybe he'll even allow him to stay with you—"

"Please!"

Alles had never had kids, and every time he had to talk to Gerald's granddaughter he felt at a loss. Right now he had an indistinct feeling that a helpless look and angelic smile were a part of some innocent plan to influence him to do what she wanted him to do, and he didn't know how he was supposed to react to that. On the other hand, the girl didn't have to know what her grandfather was doing to Shadow right about now…

He let out a heavy sigh, already knowing he was going to eat himself up inside for upsetting her, and shook his head. "Sorry, but you really better wait outside."

Maria frowned in somewhat amusing way, obviously not going to give up so easily. Alles was saved by Gerald himself, who chose this moment to finally approach them. The black hedgehog was following him silently.

"Now that's all," he exchanged glances with his assistant and then turned to his granddaughter. "I thought I asked Shadow not to wake you…"

"I woke up on my own, grandfather." She embraced Gerald's elbow gently, nuzzling rough fabric of his white lab coat. "How are you?"

Alles let out an uncomfortable cough and turned away to study the papers on the table with unreasonable interest. The thought about the second witness of this touching family scene danced into his mind, and he looked sideways. Shadow, unlike him, didn't bother looking away and kept watching the girl and her grandfather, still without uttering a single word.

"Good enough, my dear."

"You haven't got any sleep in the last days. Are there any problems with your project?"

"No, no, no, it's going on perfectly well. In fact, my work is about to be finished already," Robotnik was obviously feeling a little uneasy now. Lying to a heavenly creature like Maria was nearly a crime, but, again, he couldn't tell her what the last phase of his experiment actually was. At least, not now. "By the way, you refuse to go to bed too often, too, and you don't have a project that could excuse it," he moved away from Maria and pointed a finger at her. Despite his mock anger, he looked rather amusing now. "Go take a rest, now. But wait, lead Shadow to his laboratory first. You know it is where he's supposed to be at nights."

Maria drew her clenched fists up under her chin - an involuntary gesture of nervousness of a high degree. "Grandfather, may he stay with me? I promise nothing bad happens to him or to me!"

Gerald bit his lower lip. After a few moments of hesitation he addressed Alles a helpless glance, which was met with nothing more than a mere shrug. NIDS - neuro immunodeficiency syndrome, which Shadow was now infected with - wasn't transmitted via the airborne route or through skin contact; the hedgehog was no more dangerous than Maria in this respect. Despite being in possession of colossal power, the last prototype of the ultimate life form never showed any signs of aggression towards other creatures. But there still was a rule which didn't allow experimental monsters to go wherever they wanted.

But there also was Maria who had never been overfond of this rule.

The professor who was left alone face to face with his beloved granddaughter didn't stand a single chance. "Maria, formally he's still one of the prototypes, he's not supposed to leave the laboratory at all," he tried desperately.

Shadow chose this exact moment to open his mouth for the first time and remind everyone that he was still present. "I don't really mind staying in the laboratory."

"No, you shouldn't say so, Shadow!" Maria knitted her brows and turned back to the professor. "Grandfather, you can't do this to him! You know he can't sleep, he'll have to sit in the laboratory all alone for hours!"

Gerald finally gave up. "All right, all right. You win," he raised both his hands up. "Now go to Maria's room, you two. I can't believe I'm saying this, but make sure nobody sees you. Very few of my colleagues would be pleased to see Shadow running free."

"Thank you, grandfather!" In one swift movement the girl embraced the professor and smooched the part of his cheek which wasn't covered by the moustache. She grabbed the hedgehog's hand and dragged the confused sapient out of the lab. A quiet fading laughter could be heard outside.

Warm smile that had touched the professor's lips at the end of the conversation faded slowly. From a kind and good-natured grandfather he suddenly turned into an old scientist, tired, lost, and exhausted. He leaned against the table heavily. "Just think about it… Only a couple of days passed, and she is already attracted to him so much," muttered Robotnik, taking the medical gloves he had been wearing off. "And that's why I feel so… nasty."

"Don't blame yourself, professor. We have reasons to believe everything turns out well in the end. What was the dose?"

"Two ml of that solution we created yesterday."

Alles sank into his chair slowly. "But… you… do you realize it's capable of killing a full-grown human in about two days?"

"I suppose what you said about two days is an overstatement. I'd give that human about a week. Keeping in mind that Shadow is not human and not a regular anthropomorph, I'd give him about three weeks, give or take. Although if his body manages to overcome the virus, we'll be able to take blood samples even earlier to create the remedy."

"But why take such a risk?"

Robotnik made a sound that someone with rich imagination would call a chuckle. "The ARK is about to be closed, there's plenty of signs and I'm not so naïve to ignore them. I guess I won't be mistaken if I say we have only a month or two left. And it means we're almost out of time- and we have to act quick, as quick as possible. The experiment we started today is the last one. Once it's complete, I will be able to start working on the medicine. If I succeed, I— I will report the results of my work to those GUN leaders. I'm sure they will change their mind as soon as they see that we are actually getting closer to achieving our goal…"

Looking into strangely gleaming eyes of the professor, Alles could only slightly shake his head. He was one of the few people who happened to know about the possible shutdown of the colony, and he couldn't believe that Gerald's report stood a chance to make GUN forget about all dangerous experiments they had been informed about lately. And what is more, he doubted the professor himself ever believed his own words. He had never tried to make a secret out of the fact that he had joined the research solely because of his granddaughter - finding a cure for her illness was all he cared about. Sometimes Alles thought that Robotnik's plans ended at the point where the remedy was found and Maria was cured; the following events could include pretty much anything, starting with mysterious disappearance of both Robotniks.

Alles doubted he would find a better solution himself if he was in Robotnik's shoes.

"The information is not confirmed yet. And even if it was, it's still too…" he hesitated, searching for the right word, "…reckless."

"And cruel. I know," Gerald had been wiping his glasses with a sleeve of his coat absently for about a minute now. "I don't remember if I told you this before, but I really wish the circumstances were different. But, alas…"

He looked at his wrist watch and shook his head. Reached for the keyboard and entered the code which powered the computer down. "I suggest both of us taking a rest. We had a very tiresome… tiresome… Chaos, I can't even remember how much time have passed since we started."

"Hm… Same here," Alles stretched and stood up lazily. "Yes, a rest is what we can afford now. After all, the rest of it doesn't depend on us anymore."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note:**

This chapter takes place several days after Sonic Heroes.

* * *

.w.

What was left of Eggman's formidable armada after the battle against Metal Sonic had fallen near the seaside. Judging from its look and a lack of labour robots, neither the doctor nor his rebel creation found it useful in any way anymore.

From afar the Egg Fleet resembled a pod of whales washed ashore. From nearby it resembled a large heap of junk.

It took Shadow some time to find the former flagship. The metal surface was pierced in several places, and the hedgehog used one of the holes to get inside. He had no idea what exactly he was looking for, so he walked in the most random direction.

After a few very exciting moments the course was changed from 'in random direction' to 'in random direction, but slowly and trying to avoid running into stuff scattered all over the place'.

Minutes later his eyes got used to the semi-darkness around him pierced with occasional strings of light, and finding his way became much easier.

After entering a passage that presumably led to the control room, Shadow froze. It didn't take long for him to hear a quiet tapping. Frowning, the hedgehog reached forward cautiously. Stopping right before the door that was half-open, he closed his eyes and listened.

Several feet away from him someone was typing on a keyboard.

Shadow tensed, ready to jump back into the darkness any moment or attack if necessary, and stepped inside.

Rouge looked up. "Hi," she said.

The hedgehog barely nodded in response. As soon as he allowed himself to relax just a bit, he took an opportunity to look around. The place was evidently the former control room of the whole armada. In the middle of the room was a large spinning chair - which was currently occupied by the bat girl - with a set of monitors and control panels in front of it. To Shadow's surprise, part of them still worked. Smaller part, though.

"I thought the electricity was gone."

"This ship has emergency generators. They're not in the best state, but it's still quite enough to activate a couple of things."

Shadow nodded absently.

The whole wall behind the monitors was actually a huge window. During the flight it had probably provided a perfect view of the whole armada; now it provided a perfect view of a single smaller battleship hovering over the deck.

As soon as Shadow was done with the examination, he turned to Rouge again. "What are you doing here?"

The bat tapped the closest monitor. "Just looking if the doctor has left anything interesting here."

"And?"

"Nothing," she kicked something hidden beneath the panels with annoyance, and all monitors blacked out. "Either it was the doctor's work or Metal Sonic's, but everything was erased from the hard drives."

She turned to the hedgehog. "Well, and what are _you_ doing here?" He hesitated, causing her to frown. "It's that copy that bothers you, right?"

"Omega told me it wasn't the only one."

The bat wavered for a moment and then sighed. "He wanted to find and destroy them after the battle against Metal Sonic. It seems that he did it well- at least I didn't find a single android when I was searching the ship."

The hedgehog turned away. No words came out, but Rouge knew enough to understand what wasn't said.

"Shadow… you don't think you're an android, too, do you?"

"I have reasons to think so."

"Think again," she frowned. "Omega himself destroyed all copies, yet he didn't touch you. Do you think he'd have left you alone if he hadn't been sure you're the original?"

Judging from the expression of the part of Shadow's face she could see, he wasn't convinced.

"Fine," the bat sighed and stood up. "One thing I know for sure is that we won't find anything interesting here. Let's get out- I can't fight a feeling the whole place is about to collapse."

…The deck met them with a light breeze. Saturated with smoky smell, heavy from the dust that wouldn't settle down even now, the air still seemed fresher than that inside of the ship. It became easier to breathe, and Shadow could feel some part of his inner darkness slipping away.

Rouge was flying leisurely a few steps in front of him. "What about your memory?" she asked without looking back. "Have the memories returned yet?"

The hedgehog hesitated. "No," he said finally. "Nothing I could understand. Looks like I'll have to track the doctor down one more time."

"He already let you know he's not going to tell you anything – haven't you got that yet?"

"Probably I was too soft with him."

Rouge hmm'ed; her partner's attitude obviously left her unimpressed. "Eggman has a lot of experience in fooling people while he's in a mess himself. Thank Sonic and his buddies for that."

Shadow stopped abruptly. "Maybe, but I have no other choice."

"Of course you do," the bat landed beside him and shrugged. "Old newspapers. Or archives. Believe me, there's no thing on this planet you couldn't learn about from the government archives. The question is how badly you need the information."

The hedgehog crossed his arms on his chest, looking at her from the corner of his eye. She endured his calculating look with only another movement of her bare shoulders. Not only once during their last team-up she informed him about her skills and work as a government spy. It was up to him to decide whether he should believe those words or not, but the bat girl already knew what his choice would be.

Finally the dark hedgehog spoke. "The question is also if you have any access to those archives."

"Well… not all of them," Rouge smiled slyly. "But this kind of stuff never stops me, you know."

"...Fine. Let's assume you can actually get into some archive and search it. But it won't be an easy task even for you… Why would you do that?"

"Oh, no," she rolled her eyes, "don't you tell me you don't believe I can do a good deed without gaining anything from it."

"I hope you're not going to assure me that it's actually true."

"Jerk," she snorted. "All right, if you're so intent on rewarding my efforts, you can start now with giving me a lift to Central City. You have a Chaos Emerald with you, don't you?"

"Yes, but—"

"Great. I don't feel like flying the whole way back."

"What does it have to do with the Chaos Emerald?"

"Um… Because you need it to warp us to the city?" Rouge blinked in somewhat funny way. "Don't you need it to perform Chaos Control?"

"Do you want me to stop time?" Shadow looked slightly confused.

The bat hesitated for a few moments. It was almost possible to feel something shifting inside her head, thoughts rearranging and forming a fitting response. Finally she frowned. "I know that Sonic can teleport himself and others if he has an Emerald. I experienced that myself once already. When I saw you performing Chaos Control, I thought you can do that, too. Don't you?"

"Actually—"

A small sound emerged from somewhere above them, resembling both a nail scratching the glass and someone's evil cackle. The hedgehog and the bat raised their heads; most of what they saw were the remains of a smaller battleship.

Rouge stole a quick glance at her companion and took off wordlessly, but before she got high enough, a figure appeared from behind the battleship. The figure had luxuriant red moustache and was grinning like crazy.

Rouge didn't exactly relax after seeing Eggman; her tension more likely just shifted to some other state. "Ah," she said. "Of course. Who else could it be?"

The doctor gave her a nod. "I'm pleased to see you as well, Rouge. I was going to show up a while ago, but you two seemed so carried away by your conversation- very _interesting_ conversation, I must admit," he smiled in a way that probably was supposed to encourage them to continue.

She saw Shadow clenching his fists from the corner of her eye and landed beside him quickly. "You're quite confident for someone who just lost his army of robots," she noticed.

"The army wasn't mine, it belonged to Metal Sonic. Personally I would never think of relying on these useless pieces of junk," the scientist grinned.

"Oh, how could I forget. So it means that your own useless pieces of junk can rise from this garbage any moment now?"

"I have something better than regular robots."

"Like what?"

"Like that android that is standing beside you. Why don't I order it to attack you?"

The bat could hear the hedgehog inhaling sharply. "Ha ha, nice o—" she began.

"What do you mean?" Shadow stepped forward.

Rouge sighed heavily. It looked like the ultimate life form still hadn't realized that every word from Eggman was a lie. "He means that he can't do anything to us right now and is biding his time. Let's go, Shadow. Central City, remember?"

She had to take Shadow away from the place before the hedgehog would get a bright idea to try and beat the truth out of Eggman, before Eggman himself would do something stupid…

"Well, as you wish," the doctor said rather kindly. "I'll save that order for later, then. Actually, I don't mind you two leaving - there's quite a few occasions upon which you'd expect me to do so, don't you think? I hope when Shadow last time demonstrated his ability to teleport to you, you looked carefully and remembered enough to help him out now."

Rouge felt the hedgehog's puzzled gaze upon her and raised an eyebrow. "You better go get your eyes examined, Eggman. That was Sonic, not Shadow."

"Really?" he seemed surprised. "I actually thought that was Shadow. I guess I should better ask Sonic himself when we meet next time." He shrugged. "Maybe talking to him would clear a couple of things up. Right now I can't help wondering why you wouldn't tell Shadow everything but insist on him following you?"

Shadow opened his mouth to cut into this exciting conversation. Instead, shrill scratching sound filled the air.

Everyone looked down. There, climbing the battleship's bow, was a giant robot who evidently was lucky to survive an encounter with a bunch of heroes and the fall of the armada. Although judging from a lack of a spiky hammer and some parts of the armor, its luck had its limits.

The bat studied it with slight interest. "Well, and whose is it? Yours or Metal's?"

The robot reached the deck and stopped, presumably staring at Rouge and her partner. The fact that its eyes were looking in different directions wouldn't allow to tell for sure.

Shadow looked at Eggman. The doctor's face was absolutely emotionless, although the hedgehog couldn't fight a feeling it hadn't been moments ago.

"Ah. M-hm. Yes," Eggman cleared his throat. "Of course this primitive construction was not created by me. But considering that Metal Sonic used my appearance most of the time, I can guess that robot won't have any problems fulfilling my order."

He straightened in his Egg-mobile and pointed at the bat and the hedgehog. "Get them!"

After a long pause Shadow said, "Looks like it obeys only Metal Sonic."

"Maybe its sound detectors are damaged?" guessed Rouge. "Try a sign language, this may work."

Eggman swore under his breath.

The hedgehog moved forward, gaining the speed to perform a homing attack. Actually, during their hasty race to catch up with Eggman the most tough and least breakable robots usually went to Omega, but the bat had no doubts her hedgehog partner would have no problem handling one single half-busted bucket of bolts. She closed her eyes and covered her ears though, just in case.

When she opened her eyes again, Shadow was already standing on the deck again and the robot was still standing on the deck. The latter made the doctor let out a loud snort. "I always knew you're full of surprises, Shadow… but I'd never guess you could miss such a large target from a distance this short."

"Just wait for a few seconds," the hedgehog barely grinned in response.

There was a sound as if someone yawned inside a huge trombone. The doctor looked up - and next moment he had to throw his Eggmobile aside, so that the smaller ship which had been hanging above the deck and which was now tumbling down wouldn't hit him.

Shadow jumped at the same moment as the ship collapsed onto the deck, burying the robot.

After some time Rouge emerged from a cloud of dust, coughing wildly. "Yeah," she said in a husky voice, "that was impressive, I'll admit. But totally inappropriate. That cloud hid us from Eggman all right, but it hid Eggman from us as well. And besides, if you really think that all this dust does my hair a good turn, then you're…"

Her voice trailed off as she realized that nobody was listening to her.

The bat raised her head. The sky above her was full of dust and absolutely clear of any signs of Shadow or Eggman.

"Oh, bugger," she said in a flat voice.


	3. Chapter 3

He wasn't exactly lying when answering Rouge's question about his memories. He really couldn't say his memory returned yet. And he really couldn't understand what he saw.

Just… fragments. Visions appearing before his eyes when he occasionally gave up thinking about something specific and just let his mind wander. They kept coming and leaving according to their own timetable, never bothering to ask whether he wanted them to or not.

…Passages, dark and empty. It's nighttime, although he'd have a problem with explaining how he figured that if somebody decided to ask.

…Sky full of stars and a globe before him.

Hallucinations? His past?

Each fragment pulled him back into reality abruptly just like a bucket of cold water splashed into one's face would.

He liked neither sinking into the world deep inside his consciousness, nor awakening all of a sudden. He wanted his memory to return, but he really would like it to do that in less uncomfortable way.

…Some liquid being injected into his bloodstream. Tired voice muttering just above his ear. Shadow-_please_-just-hold-still-for-a-minute.

…Sleepless night in a laboratory. Locked up, all alone. Several hours stretch into what seems like eternity only to fade into nothingness afterwards. Little sense of time flow he has stumbles and performs an awkward barrel roll.

Then the past started resembling a chainsaw, turned off for now, pressed against the back of his head. You push a wrong button on accident, and the images would tear your skull to pieces before you have a chance to accustom, to get used to them, to build a sort of defense walls in your head.

But for some reason he couldn't stop pushing all buttons he could reach. When there's a chainsaw against the back of your head, you feel an unexplainable urge to do something, anything.

…Stars. For some reason there is no glass between them and him anymore.

…That bat who released him from the stasis capsule, Rouge… she called him by name. She knows something about him, but doesn't want to tell him. Just like the doctor.

…Someone's small hand in his.

…Smug grin on Eggman's face. "I like the way you think, Shadow…" That was after Rouge released him from the capsule, or..?

Sometimes he thought the whole world decided to hurl a taunt at him.

Probably that's what they call losing your mind.

.w.

Shadow found Rouge three days later. Approached her when she was having supper at a street café, landed on a seat in front of her.

"I want to know what you found on that computer at Eggman's base."

Rouge sighed. "Wrong. It should sound like this: 'Bon appetit!'"

"What?"

"If the person you want to talk to is eating, it's generally polite to wish them bon appetit. It's also generally polite to say 'Hello' beforehand, but we'll let it by for now."

Shadow stared at her plate as if seeing it for the first time. Then he looked back at her. "I want to know what you found there," he repeated. "There was something important about me you try to conceal."

Aquamarine eyes rolled up. "Fine, let's talk about the computer. By the way, want to join me?" she pointed at her plate.

"I'm not hungry."

"Well, whatever."

She was slowly stirring her coffee that was already getting cold. Rouge had had a feeling before that Shadow would bring this question up someday, and she couldn't say she had been waiting for it excitedly. Maybe the question itself wasn't too dangerous, but she knew where it would eventually lead.

The President's order for this case was crystal clear.

_"Don't let him suspect you know anything about his real past. No talking about the ARK, Gerald, or Maria. Your task is to help him find the fake documents we placed into the archive. By the moment you two arrive at the GUN headquarters, the GUN leaders will already have their instructions."_

_He looked back at her, and his features softened just a bit. "I don't want to have the colony falling on Earth again, but it's not the only reason. His origins, his past, the events that followed the decision to shut the colony down… Memories will bring him more grief instead of relief. Sometimes I believe that Shadow losing his memory is the best option for everyone of us. Even for him."_

_She hesitated, feeling they weren't done with the topic yet. "The document I provided with my latest report… Professor Gerald's last experiment… the virus…"_

_"Don't tell him about it, too_—_ not until the time is right. If the idea of creating Shadow's fake past succeeds, we soon will have a chance to examine him and find out if our help is needed."_

A good agent always knows when he can ignore his boss's words and get away with it and when he can't. And this time some little voice in the back of Rouge's head told her it was the latter case.

"Tell me, how are you?" she asked suddenly.

"Rouge..!"

"No, no, it's not another good manners lesson, it really has a lot to do with the computer. Well?"

Shadow looked away.

"So you're not okay," Rouge concluded as a reply didn't come. The hedgehog thought he noticed her sadden a little, but he wasn't sure. "No appetite, no healthy sleep, I suppose…"

"My body doesn't need food or sleep like yours does."

Rouge looked at him sharply. "Why do you think so?"

The only reply she got was a long senseless stare. This look could appear on a fish's face if somebody decided to ask it what the water was.

"All right, all right, don't answer."

"Rouge, you're just dragging it out. Tell me, what did you find?"

The bat sipped her coffee. Probably it'd just gotten too cold by now, probably it had something to do with the conversation she found too uncomfortable for her liking, but it tasted as if she had bitten off a piece of paperboard.

Soon, her cup was placed back on the table.

"Nothing," Rouge finally said.

The hedgehog stared fixatedly at her.

"Maybe there was something important, but it all had been erased by the time I arrived."

He kept nailing her to her seat with his eyes.

"Sorry."

He waited a little more. When he realized she wasn't going to continue, he frowned. "You told me that before."

"Yes. And I can only repeat that because it's true."

"You're lying," Shadow said with no emotion. "Why?"

Rouge shrugged, totally unabashed. "This is one of drawbacks of being an agent and having to trick people from time to time. When you for once decide to tell the truth, nobody would believe you."

The hedgehog gave her a long stare. Finally he asked, "How did you know my name?"

An old newspaper appeared on the table. It looked as if it had been crumpled furiously at least once. The bat girl flattened it more or less, found the page she needed, and handed it over to Shadow. What he saw was some cheesy headline - something like 'The planet was saved again' - and the text below it.

After some time he looked back at Rouge. "Just how many people should a government agent contact to get a fake edition published?"

"Not too many, I guess," she shrugged. "Although I bought this one myself more than a month ago - I always need to know what's going on in the world, you see. If you have problems with paper, you can search the Net for official news or some amateur videos anytime. There were quite a lot of them out there last time I checked. I'm afraid you won't see any of those on TV now though. Our country gets into trouble way too often for the news like that to be discussed for so long."

Shadow had no idea what the Net was, but he would have rather died than admitted that to Rouge. He nodded briefly, responding to the statement in general, and closed his eyes as if thinking. Silence stretched until it turned uncomfortable.

"By the way, what happened to Eggman?" Rouge asked to revive the conversation.

Shadow twitched as if waking up. "Nothing. He fled."

"Fled," she repeated.

"Right."

"Disappeared."

"Exactly."

Rouge sighed. "Alright. I'll take that on trust."

Another silence occurred.

"It says he… I… disappeared after the fall. Were there any guesses about what happened?"

"Many thought you died. To tell the truth, I thought so, too… when I saw the article. And then, when I met you at the base, I assumed since you can use Chaos… you could have performed Chaos Control back then. Or something like that."

Pause.

"If you think the real Shadow died and you are just one of many copies made by Eggman, then you're wrong. The doctor couldn't have created a single android if he hadn't had the original."

Pause.

"It's rather complicated, I'll tell you. I personally have no idea what happened at Eggman's base and very little idea of what had happened a month before we met at that base. But I can say a thing or two about Eggman himself. He will stop at nothing to conquer the world. And now he got you, who possesses astonishing powers and has no memory and thus is so easy to be tricked… If you were him, would you tell yourself the truth?"

Pause.

"There must be other ways to find out anything about your past. Eggman is really the last resort."

The hedgehog was staring fixedly at one point. His thoughts felt way too heavy in his head.

He didn't like something about Rouge's words. He couldn't fight a feeling that she already had a reply to any question he could think of prepared. She was ready to face him. Would she have been ready to face him if she hadn't had to win his confidence back at all costs?

"Eggman is a liar and a manipulator, I got that," he said. "But what do people say about you?"

"They say I'm the best treasure hunter in the world," beamed Rouge.

He was looking at her again, and she noticed a strange gleaming in his eyes that definitely hadn't been there before. Then the hedgehog stood up.

"I don't believe you. Neither you nor Eggman."

"Shadow…"

"What a waste of time."

"Wait—!"

He disappeared before she could finish.


	4. Chapter 4

…Judging from how rapidly Eggman was typing, he was busy as hell. Shadow even felt sorry for him for a moment. Pity that delaying the conversation until the evil genius would find a spare minute wasn't a part of his plans.

"Doctor," he called quietly.

The human jumped and turned to him. His face stretched in a funny way. "Shadow? How did you—"

"I have a question."

Red moustache turned down, forming a sour grimace. "Can you ask it some other time? I'm a little busy right now", said the villain, pointing to the side.

The hedgehog looked there and found a small capsule. There were two big fearful eyes staring back at him from behind the glass- a rabbit girl. Shadow had already seen her several days ago, during the fight with the metal copy of Sonic. His memory decided to serve him well for once for he could recollect her name: Cream.

He looked back at the doctor. "A bait?"

"Exactly. Sonic will be here any moment, so if you excuse me—"

"I want to know what's going on with me."

Eggman, who had already returned to his monitors, turned back to him again. "Erm, what?"

"I want to know what's going on with me," the hedgehog repeated, feeling that his patience was already reaching its limits.

"And what's going on with you?" Eggman arched an eyebrow.

"Don't you tell me you don't know!" Shadow exploded. "Rouge found me at your base… you called me an android… you said I have no past… and I don't know if it's true… and now I… but I'm not… I want to know what's going on!"

The door behind him opened silently, revealing a figure of a battle robot. Probably being one of late E-series, it possessed all gizmos necessary to calm down this particularly persistent madcap. Some of them would have looked more apt atop the deck of a battlecruiser.

"Shadow, you seem tired," Eggman said in a voice he probably believed to be soft and caring. "You really should take a rest."

"Mister Shadow-!" Cream drummed on the thick glass. Her voice was muffled, but the knocking still reached the hedgehog's ears. They twitched, suggesting him to look back, which he followed cautiously.

"Fine," muttered Shadow and jumped. Appearing before the robot's face, he dealt a direct blow. And one more. And one more.

He then landed on the floor and stared at his hands blankly. The same expression of utter puzzlement could probably appear upon the faces of scientists, who just witnessed a cannon-ball shattering to pieces after colliding with a handkerchief.

The robot, which was still in one piece and pretty much undamaged, shifted and responded with a burst of fire. Thankfully, Shadow's speed was in better condition than his power, so he still managed to dodge the bullets.

"Idiot!" shouted Eggman while hiding behind his chair. A couple of monitors above him exploded. "Look where you shoot!"

Shadow gave it another go and attacked once again. This time the robot was faster, and the hedgehog caught a blow to his chest and was sent flying across the room. Something shattered. Someone shrieked.

"Sonic is coming here!" Eggman was shouting, referring to no-one in particular.

The hedgehog stood up. It took him two tries to finally get that punching and kicking was pretty much useless - which meant that the one last option was to attack, using his speed and ability to curl into a spiky ball. He greeted the idea with very little enthusiasm. A slight dizziness that had been torturing him for some time suggested that he would have significant problems with telling below apart from above during and especially _after_ his spin attack.

"Stop it!"

Suddenly Cream was right in front of him. Squinting at the side, Shadow found a piece of the capsule lying there. Now it was clear what exactly had broken when he fell.

"Don't fire!"

"What are you waiting for!? Get rid of them!" suggested Eggman from behind the chair.

The robot raised its weapon, aiming at Shadow and Cream who remained standing between them. Shadow stared blankly at the ammo the metal colossus still possessed. Even if the missiles weren't explosive, it still might try to knock two sapients to death with the weight of them alone and be good at that.

"Though wait, don't touch the girl," the doctor suddenly changed his mind. "Maybe I'll have to hold her hostage later."

The robot froze. "Conflicting commands," it uttered. Its head began turning around itself. "System overload…"

"Please, don't!"

"Overload…"

"Do something!"

"Please, just let us go…"

"Ah, dammit…"

Shadow looked back and saw the back of the doctor's chair disappearing in the hole in the floor. A slab that was supposed to cover it returned to its place with a quiet _click_.

"Overload…"

"Stop it!"

"Overload…"

The floor beneath them shuddered.

It was finally enough for him. The ultimate life form clenched his head with his hands. Too much noise, too little chance to find an answer…

He just had wasted his time once again.

"Chaos Control!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note:**

Previous four chapters were updated. Nothing too serious, just minor style changes.

* * *

.w.

Passages. Thick layer of dust. Vague shining of emergency light tubes. Darkness filled with bright spots outside the windows.

A haven floating through the space.

Silence torn only by sound of breathing and quick footsteps.

…And wails of a siren.

No, he's just hearing things. No sirens, just silence.

He hadn't thought of getting here; actually, he hadn't thought of anything in particular when using Chaos Control, he just desired to find himself in a place as quiet as possible. Probably he hadn't gotten a proper grip on the technique yet. He had been using it intuitively so far… it worked in somewhat too random way for his liking, but at least it worked.

He could tell his current surroundings felt too painfully familiar.

…The globe beneath his feet.

Darkness full of stars beyond the glass. Cold vacuum only few feet away from him.

He had already been there before, in this fragile vessel floating through starry nothingness. He just had to remember when, why, and with whom.

"Mister Shadow!"

"What!?"

"You're holding my hand too tight…"

"…Sorry."

Too many rooms, too many damned rooms. Who in the world could have ever lived in them? Shadow just wouldn't believe the colony could take in so many people. Neither now, nor back then, when… when… A glimpse of something too frail but too important as well broke free and disappeared into the darkness of his mind, and he soon gave up pursuing it.

There was one, just one he needed the most at the moment. The room used to be… the room where lived…

It was like trying to catch a spot of reflected light with bare hands.

Annoyed beyond belief, Shadow made a sharp turn and hit the nearest door with his own body. Still forcing the rabbit girl to follow him, he made it to the center of the room. It probably had once used to be a bedroom - at least apart from four walls and a floor and a ceiling there also was a bed.

He generously allowed Cream to occupy the bed, while he simply sank against the wall to a sitting position himself. He hugged his knees right before nuzzling them; his eyelids took advantage of his relaxed state and slid down uncontrollably. For some reason he believed the memories would rush to him as soon as he finds the place, and thus he was now staring into the deep of his mind rather demandingly. It was pretty much like simply staring out the window - the only difference was that the emptiness beyond the glass had some stars in it.

"Mister Shadow, do you live here?"

"What?"

"Is this your home?"

"Ah. Dunno. Maybe."

"This place is so empty…"

"M-hm."

…The reminiscences were just like some cockroaches. When he focused on anything lying outside his head, he could always sense their unwanted presence on the outskirts of his mind. But as soon as the light of his full and undivided attention filled the room of his memory, they disappeared in such dark corners of his mind he had never suspected he had had them.

He tried to think about anything _but_ his memory. He failed.

"Mister Shadow, are you all right?"

"Yes."

Cream frowned. "You're not telling the truth, mister Shadow. You're not all right, but you don't want to talk about it, and I don't know why."

"I'm perfectly fine. Though I do not want to talk about it, yes."

"Okay…" the rabbit girl wrinkled her nose a bit and turned away.

He regarded her for a few moments, trying to remember why exactly he had brought her with him. He couldn't. Then the hedgehog sighed and closed his eyes, absolutely sure he would open them any moment he wanted. His thoughts were becoming heavier and slower with every passing moment.

He couldn't get what was happening to him. His memory refused to come back properly and refused to leave him alone at the same time. He felt as if he was slowly losing his mind. And for some reason his body would occasionally attempt to betray him.

There were moments when his limbs turned unexplainably weak. His head felt as if some small and white and spiky animal decided to settle there. His movements became slow and somewhat clumsy, and it often felt like he was tearing through a mass of cotton wool.

That was so awfully wrong. He had failed to explain it to Rouge, and he suspected he'd fail to explain to even himself why he was so sure his body couldn't let him down. He just was.

But a flaw in his system was also present. And that was so wrong.

And Rouge didn't believe him. Didn't believe he had some evident advantages over the others of his species. Maybe it really was something hard to believe.

But Rouge was Rouge and he was him. Who was Rouge to know him better than he did…?

His thoughts were moving in circles and he had no idea of what to do to push them to the right direction. Or whatever direction. He… just sat there and waited.

What was he waiting for?

What? What? What? What? What? What… what…

"Mister Shadow, are you okay?"

He twitched and straightened. Cream, who suddenly found herself being fiercely stared at, moved back instinctively. "I… you weren't moving for some time and then started to fall, and I thought you were sick or something… Sorry, I didn't mean to…"

The hedgehog shook his head, indicating that he wasn't angry. He didn't feel like saying a word or trying to move. He just watched Cream getting back to the bed.

That temporary pass-out wasn't his first in recent days, but it was the first time when he failed to return from the world lying far beyond the borders of reality on his own. Thinking about it was like a glass of cold water being splashed into his face, for it helped him to concentrate more or less. He tried hard to catch the former train of his thought again. And this time he refused to close his eyes.

His current condition was a consequence of either his past he still remembered very little about, or his not-so-long residing at the doctor's base. If it was his past, then… what? What could have happened to him? A disease? An injury?

He pushed the idea aside without ceremony. No disease could harm him in such a drastic way - confidence in this fact had probably been put into him genetically.

Eggman, Eggman… what was the scientist capable of? From what Shadow had learned, the answer to that question could include pretty much anything… Wait, no, most of the time he talked to an impostor, not Eggman himself... Although judging from their only encounter— all right, _three_ encounters— that impostor's behavior wasn't off too much…

His thoughts were drifting across the waters of his mind like a fleet lost in the mist.

Maybe he _was_ an android, and what was happening to him was just another one of Eggman's twisted schemes. If only he could know for sure…

…But he could.

His eyes swung open the moment the idea broke in - and he swore at himself for letting them close again. With much effort, leaning against the wall heavily, he stood up; shot a glance at Cream who he started to forget about.

"I have to check… something. You stay here."

"Please, wait! May I go with you?" the rabbit was almost blown off the bed.

"N— though, whatever," he shrugged.

…Shadow didn't know for sure where exactly the laboratories were, but he was sure as hell they were around there somewhere. They had to be. A construction of such monstrous size filled with tons of machinery beyond his knowledge simply couldn't go without some rooms full of medical equipment.

If it comes to the worst, there had to be some first aid kits.

"Mister Shadow, what's going on?" Cream could barely keep up with him.

"Nothing."

First door and a couple of machines behind it, probably cleaning ones. Not what he needed.

"Are you looking for something?"

"Sort of."

Third room, full of stands and various gadgets. After looking over them and finding nothing he could make use of, he slammed the door closed with irritation. He was beginning to feel stupid.

"Mister Shadow, I'm sca— ow."

There was a lab behind the sixth door. A nice and tidy lab with at least one table with a bundle of implements on it.

He stepped inside, and Cream who turned quiet at once followed him. "I don't like hospitals…" she said in a weak voice.

"Then wait there. Outside."

When the door closed behind her, he approached the table.

Shadow had absolutely no idea how all this stuff atop the table was called and how exactly it was supposed to be used. His memory, which offered him laboratory-themed visions from time to time, was searched again thoughtfully. Probably it had something to do with tourniquets. But how he was supposed to use one? Should it be placed above or below the cut? Before or after?

The hedgehog looked for something that could be used as a tourniquet, found nothing and decided that it wasn't all that important. Gloves were taken off in order to stay away from getting dirtied up. Shadow found something sharp enough on the table and used it to open a shallow cut across his right arm.

Blood visibly had some trouble coming out and was barely noticeable against his dark fur. Wincing, Shadow deepened the cut until the blood began forming big droplets. Several test tubes were there on the table, and he placed one of them against the cut.

He stood there, ignoring the pain and trying to think. Thoughts refused to clear, but he managed to give them the right shape.

His hand was bleeding. Somehow he knew that only organic creatures had blood in their bodies. What was inside of those androids sparkled and exploded, not formed a red puddle on the floor. Which meant, he concluded, that he wasn't an android.

Shadow felt proud for discovering this.

As soon as the decision was made, the tube was removed from his hand and plugged up with something. Blood wasn't coming out anymore, and for some reason it didn't surprise him at all. His gloves were put back on, with him swaying only once in the process, and he reached for his head quills in search for the Emerald. The hedgehog grew cold with momentary terror when he didn't find it straight away, fearing the idea of having to look for it all over the colony. He relaxed only after his fingers finally found the cold smoothness of the gem.

That's all. Or did he forget about something?

Ah yes, Cream…

She was waiting outside, holding her tiny clenched fists right under her chin. It appeared that she had been standing on the same spot all the time, listening to the thick silence and never shifting her gaze away from the door. As soon as she saw Shadow, who came out holding the tube full of his blood with one hand and the Emerald with another, her eyes widened instantly.

"Mister Shadow…"

"Shh. Don't say anything. We've gotta go back."

…It was warm and sunny back down.

Cream looked back and found Shadow sitting on the grass, clenching his head with both his hands, and staring fixatedly at one point.

"Mister Shadow, you look awful! I think you shouldn't—"

"The Emerald," he said.

"What?"

"Just remembered. The Emerald. Of course. I have to… I need to… take it somewhere."

"Do you want to hide your Emerald?" guessed Cream.

"Hm. Yes, something like that."

"Then I'll help you," the rabbit girl kneeled beside him with determination.

"No." Shadow's gaze shifted to the tube in his hand. Without too much thinking, he shoved it into Cream's hands. "Here, take it. Give it to Rouge and tell her that back then, when we met at the ruins… I was right. Or she was, I don't remember for sure. Thing is, I'm not an android… perhaps. I mean, now I believe I'm not. I hope I do."

He thought it over again. "Though wait, don't tell her anything. I'll do it myself when I find her."

"Ah… but what about you?" muttered Cream, looking totally perplexed. She was holding the glass at arm's length as if it could bite her.

"The city is over there," the hedgehog waved his hand randomly. "Now go, they're looking for you. And I have to take care of the Emerald."

"But it means you'll be here all alone!"

"Well, yeah."

"But you can't even stand!"

Shadow mentally moaned. He then tried to twist his features into the most gruesome grimace possible and snapped, "Get lost already!"

Cream stared at him for a moment or two, surprised. Then she chuckled: "I think you're better now."

She stood up and took several tentative steps back. "Just don't go away, okay? I'll go find mister Sonic and others, and they will come to help you!" She turned and ran in the direction opposite to the one Shadow gave her.

The hedgehog just sighed in relief and nodded vaguely. Then he laid back, stretched himself out on the grass and closed his eyes.

* * *

.w.

**Author's note:**

Used the idea from Cloneproof (Crystal Rose ch.1), with less giggles this time.


	6. Chapter 6

Sonic was amazed at how Rouge found Eggman's headquarters almost at the same time he did. It nearly gave him an impression that she had been hiding somewhere not too far away, waiting for a right moment to sneak in.

Judging from the expression of her face when they met, he wasn't the person she expected to find there.

"Where could he go?"

"No idea," said the bat, who was flying by his side. "If he's not near Eggman, then he could be anywhere."

"Think again, I don't want to search the planet upside down. And why'd he need Cream?"

Rouge merely shrugged in response.

"What's wrong with Shadow anyway?"

"Hm-m…" Rouge considered her response. Was Sonic aware of his counterpart's amnesia already? And if he wasn't, did he really need to know about it? "He seems to have a grudge against Eggman. He just wasn't himself lately."

"I wonder if it has something to do with Shadow's disappearance after that Chaos Control."

"Me too…" the bat said absently.

They were heading the city at this point. Well, at least Rouge was, and somehow Sonic felt he would find his dark counterpart sooner if he followed her. Probably it wasn't the smartest idea to try his luck now and pile on more questions, especially with Rouge… but he hated it when he couldn't tell what was going on around him.

And he was Sonic, after all.

"What were _you_ doing at the base?" he asked.

"I've got a mission to find out what Eggman is up to this time."

"And found him two minutes after the show begun?"

"You're not the only one who works fast, hedgehog."

"Mister Sonic—!"

The scream was barely audible, but the hedgehog screeched to a stop sharply. He looked back and saw Cream; the rabbit girl, covered in dust from head to toes and swaying visibly, was heading straight to him.

"Mister… Sonic…"

A moment later he was beside her, holding her shoulders. The rabbit girl was shuddering all over. Probably she had to run all the way here from somewhere far away; Sonic wouldn't be too surprised if it turned out that Shadow had somehow warped them to the other side of the planet.

"Cream, what happened?"

"And where's Shadow?" Rouge landed beside them.

"Mister Shadow, he… something terrible happened to him! He told me to go back to the city and leave him at the Mystic Ruins. He could barely stand and—"

She suddenly found Rouge with her eyes.

"Miss Rouge…" Cream visibly shivered. "Mister Shadow wanted me to give you this."

A small test tube with some red liquid inside lay in the bat's hand. Rouge studied it for a couple of seconds before looking up. It didn't go unnoticed for Sonic how a trace of confusion touched her features.

"You agreed that he would send you his blood if—?"

"No, we weren't talking about anything like that…"

"Rouge, something's going on with Shadow, and if you keep secret what you know about him—"

Rouge stepped back, shaking her head. "I don't! I mean, I just noticed he acted strange yesterday, but I have no idea what's wrong with him!"

Sonic kept staring at her, frowning. He didn't happen to know the bat girl for long, but he could already tell she was a perfect actress. That puzzled look with a hint of worry could easily turn out entirely faked up. Or maybe not. You never knew when to feel confident.

Trying to outwit Rouge one day could possibly be a fine challenge, the hero thought. For some other time, though, for now he had a certain hedgehog to dig out.

He shrugged it off, giving up, and then turned towards Cream. "Where's he now?"

"At the Ruins, near the forest… I asked him to stay there, but he said he had to hide the Chaos Emerald, and I'm afraid he will try to leave, and that's while he feels so bad! Please, you have to hurry and find him!"

"Hide the Emerald? Why?" the bat blinked, looking baffled.

The question was left unanswered. "It'll be easier for you to spot him from above," Sonic pointed out instead.

"Right… But what about you?"

"I must take Cream home and visit Tails after that— wanna check one thing. It won't take too long, and I'll join you then."

Rouge nodded and took off without further questions. Sonic lifted Cream up in his arms and darted off as well.

"Will you find him?" Cream asked quietly.

"No doubts."

"I'm so worried…"

"I'll make sure Shadow will see you and apologize when he's better."

"All right," Cream smiled weakly in response to his wink.

After he handed the rabbit girl to her petrified mother, he zipped away without stopping to listen to Vanilla's hurried thanks. The Chaos Emeralds had a habit of scattering all over the planet after coming together for a short period of time. When the battle against Metal Sonic was over, they disappeared again as soon as Sonic was out of his Super form. Now he knew that Shadow took hold of at least one gemstone already…

But the hero was also aware that Tails had found one more several days ago. And that Emerald was something Sonic needed the most right now.

Those powerful gems had always been attracting one another… And, by the way, the hedgehog could already think of at least one place where Shadow could be.

.w.

The colony was silent.

It's not that ARK seemed a nice and peaceful place to Sonic. But a lack of runaway experimental creatures and battle robots on a rampage sure did it good.

He found Shadow soon enough. His counterpart was sitting motionlessly in one of the rooms, in front of giant, wall-wide glass. It felt as if the darker hedgehog stood there, trying to comprehend why this place would make his mind go blank and numb, and then suddenly slump down right after deciding to leave.

Recognition stung Sonic dully as he approached the crouched shape quietly. "Shadow?"

No reaction.

"Shadow, hey…"

The other hedgehog twitched. He slowly took his face away from his hands and squinted at Sonic with one eye. "Ah. It's you."

"Greetings from Eggman. The old guy wanted you to know he's not mad at you for kidnapping Cream."

"M-hm."

"By the way, why'd you tell Cream you're gonna hide the Emerald?"

"I said so?" muttered Shadow.

Sonic looked at him closely. Red eyes were gleaming strangely while staring absently at the point slightly above the blue hedgehog's left eyebrow. Droplets of sweat could be seen on his forehead… The ultimate life form sure didn't look his best.

"What's up with you?"

"Nothing. Just resting here. Just a second. M-hm. I've gotta move on."

"Move where?"

"I need to find one thing here. Whatchacallit… a canon. Can-non. Or a laser. It's somewhere here on the colony."

"The Eclipse Cannon?" suggested Sonic.

"Yes. Right." The darker hedgehog hid his face in his palms again, so his voice sounded slightly muffled now. "This information is confident, but it can destroy the Earth. I mean, confidential, not confident. And I mean, the cannon can, not information. I must… I have to… I have to find it. The cannon. Now."

Sonic considered what he had just heard. "Um… Y'know, I'm not too familiar with this place and all, but I think I remember seeing the cannon in the other part of the colony."

"Yeah, I've been looking for it. I remember there're no those things… windows. It's somewhere near the core. I'll go there."

Shadow shot up abruptly. He seemed to have no problems standing still, but as soon as he tried to take a step towards the door, he staggered and collapsed immediately. Sonic kneeled beside him cautiously.

"You know, you really should take a rest," he said, trying hard not to chuckle.

"No."

"Well, actually, you seriously—"

"No!"

A fist came crashing into the blue hedgehog's chin. The punch definitely had some soul and emotion in it, but it certainly lacked power as it only resulted in Sonic biting his own tongue involuntarily and tumbling over.

When he straightened himself up, Shadow was sitting again, covering his face with his hands and swaying slightly from side to side.

Sonic tugged at his own ear, thinking. He recalled Tails having a mental breakdown for a reason he just couldn't remember. Back then, a patient listening to inconsolable whimpers and a cup of hot milk had done their best, and the exhausted fox kit fell asleep in his arms. That time, although, had been easier as Tails hadn't made any attempts to give his jaw a new shape. Besides, Sonic doubted he would find any milk aboard the colony. Let alone make Shadow drink it.

On the other hand, leaving a hedgehog, whose mind obviously resided in a faraway world and who still had a Chaos Emerald in his hands, alone so close to the Eclipse Cannon surely wasn't the smartest idea.

Sonic sighed and spoke to Shadow once again, this time, though, staying out of his reach. "Whatever. But why do you need the cannon so badly?"

"I need to find it…"

"I got that, but what for?"

"I should fire it."

"Hm?"

"Or shouldn't I…?"

"I think you shouldn't," Sonic said quickly.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I'm one hundred per cent sure. The cannon shouldn't fire."

"Mm, it's strange… but okay. I'll go break it then, shall I?"

"Erm, bad idea. I mean, there's not too much of a hurry."

"Why?"

"Hm…" the hedgehog tried to think of a reason Shadow would find convincing. "It can't be used without your Emerald anyway. As long as the Emerald's with you, nothing bad would happen."

The dark hedgehog fixed his eyes on his palms. Bent a pair of fingers. Some thought was obviously bothering his mind, but he failed to get it.

"You sure?" he finally asked.

"Yes."

"Just my Emerald?"

"Erm… yeah."

"Fine," Shadow finally gave up. "I'm not going anywhere, then."

He slowly began falling to the side. Sonic caught him and propped his body against the glass window carefully.

"I'll protect the Emerald," said Shadow, closing his eyes.

"Great idea."

"No one will take it away. From me."

"No doubts."

"I'll just stay here for a minute."

"Fine."

"She told me you'd help me."

"Alri— wait, who?"

No answer.


	7. Chapter 7

Rouge was sitting on the roof of Tails' workshop, waiting for Sonic, when he and Shadow appeared on the lawn in front of the door. The fox kit himself wasn't around - probably he was still lost deep inside the Tornado. At least he had been there when Sonic had dropped in to borrow the Emerald.

The hero let his counterpart collapse onto the ground and leaned against the wall of the workshop. Rouge landed next to him and kneeled beside Shadow. "Where has he been?"

"Aboard the ARK. And he couldn't even tell what exactly he was doing there."

"But he said… the Emerald…" She looked up at Sonic just to see him standing stiffly and examining his shoes intently. A slight frown appeared on her face. "Just what happened up there?"

"Nothin', really. But that Chaos Control thing… it's… ah, forget it," he straightened himself up. "I just almost fell asleep myself while talking to him, that's all."

Rouge turned her attention back to Shadow. Her eyes narrowed, giving her a somewhat calculating look. "He's breathing…"

"Well, yeah. It happens to him sometimes."

"I would even say he's sleeping…"

"Yep."

"…if I didn't know he doesn't— What?" the bat girl stuttered.

"He doesn't do what?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You said Shadow doesn't do somethin'. He doesn't do what?"

After a few moments of awkward silence Rouge decided it would be best to start again. "Is he sleeping?"

"What else does it look like he's doing?"

"He might be in coma!"

"Why would he suddenly go into coma?" Sonic blinked, looking confused now. And then shifted uncomfortably. "Hey, easy here. I didn't even touch him!"

"He is—" Rouge visibly stopped herself. "He told me he doesn't need to sleep!"

The hero nodded knowingly. "Yeah, and he told _me_ he had to fire the Eclipse Cannon straight away. I wonder… Looks like he didn't even know he had to sleep."

"Shadow looked terrible lately and… and what does it all have to do with the cannon?" Rouge stumbled once again.

"Your Shadow's been awake for— how much? More than a week! Or even more than two weeks! I remember Tails once was upgrading the Tornado for several nights in a row, after that he—"

"Nonsense! Gerald created him to be the ultimate life form - immortal, tireless, immune to all known diseases! Just what kind of ultimate creature can't go without sleep..?"

Sonic snorted. "He tried, yeah. But who said that Gerald had made it? Look at Eggman: his every new robot is ultimate and perfect and flawless and so on, but you kick it, and it falls apart… Maybe it's something he took from his grandpa, don't you think?"

Rouge opened her mouth, about to keep on arguing— and closed it, blinking once or twice. She suddenly looked as if she was trying to view something painted on the back of her irises. The hedgehog just nodded with satisfaction.

"I'll go ask Tails if he has a spare bedroom."

"Wait," the bat shook her head and got up to her feet. "Probably it'd be better if I take Shadow with me."

"I'm sure Tails wouldn't mind…"

"Maybe, but you know what? I don't think Shadow would be too happy to wake up with you two around."

"You think?"

"Are you sure you two didn't argue back there on the colony?" she slightly raised her eyebrows.

"We-e-ell…"

"That's alright. So, I'm taking him with me. And um, about the colony… What exactly did he say about the cannon?"

"Just some rubbish about it, about the Emeralds… Couldn't decide whether he should fire it or not…" The hedgehog stared at the bat. "Do you think he lost his memory again? If he forgot about how he was helping us and is now trying to destroy the Earth again—"

"I don't know. I just hope he's not. Will ask him when he wakes up. And now do me a favor, bring me and Shadow back to Central City, will you? The address is…"

.w.

After Sonic had left, the bat locked herself in the kitchen and turned on her wrist communicator.

"Agent Rouge here. Requesting a transport unit and some security guards to the place on the Fifth Street. This is urgent. Yes, he's here already. I'm not sure, but I think he is— What? Blood count results? How soon? All right, I'll contact them as soon as I arrive at the headquarters. End of contact."

* * *

.w.

**Author's note:**

I was inspired with all those people who believe Shadow doesn't need food, water, rest, sleep, is invulnerable and can kick the world apart because he's the ultimate life form.

It was fun to write about Shadow losing his grip on reality, as well as about him being unable to bust a single robot. Helplessness suits him just as much as badassness.

Open ending is an option I found the most suitable. I like both coma and sleep ideas.

What about you?


End file.
